Michael Eboh
8 December 2008
A non profit Governmental Organisation (NGO), Growing Businesses Foundation (GBF) has announced its decision to contribute to the Federal Government's fight towards the alleviation of poverty in Nigeria, by providing access to micro credit facilities at the grass roots and to small scale entrepreneurs. Speaking during a micro credit roundtable conference in Lagos, the President/Founder of the NGO, Mrs. Ndidi Edozien disclosed that the major factor militating against the growth of the Nigerian economy is the inaccessibility to funds and lack of support for growing businesses.
She said, "If Nigeria is to grow, a lot of effort should be directed towards developing the grassroots populace, towards developing the rural areas and providing access to funds for small businesses. It is impossible to build a mega city unless we develop the rural areas. Development apart from rural and agricultural development is not tenable and unachievable. The global food and financial crisis is an attestation to that fact."
She disclosed that the over 70 per cent of the country's population that are involved in agriculture do not have access to micro credit facilities, adding that this has hindered the growth of the country's agricultural sector and contributed in further impoverishing a vast majority of Nigerians. She lamented the fact that the micro finance institutions in the country lacks the requisite capacity to meet the financial needs of the people and that majority of the commercial banks in the country have refused to provide support for the agricultural, real sector and the small businesses in the economy.
According to her, "The entrepreneur has all it takes and can make a significant difference to Nigeria's economic development. Microfinance brings the power of credit to the grass roots by way of loans to the poor, without the requirement of collateral or previous credit record Experience has shown that microfinance can help the poor to increase income, build viable businesses and reduce their vulnerability to external shocks."
She disclosed that at GBF, they have worked assiduously to enhance credit infrastructure across the country, ensuring that people get access to finance, especially women and youth.
Edozien further stated that in conjunction with its other partners, it has worked to support businesses with prospects for growth and helped in repositioning microfinance institutions in the country, making them responsive and beneficial to the people of Nigeria.
"GBF uses a portfolio of financial products services and strengthening a network of relations to develop socially responsible business programs for micro, small and medium scale entrepreneurs (MSMEs). The last nine years have seen us improve on our methodology, vigorously pursuing both best practices and local development content to achieve our vision of sustainable economic development led by socially responsible businesses," she added.
She allayed the fears of financial institutions, concerning the credit-worthiness of small scale entrepreneurs in the country, adding that from its activities in the past, it has discovered that entrepreneurs in Nigeria are credit-worthy and would not renege on the payment of loans given them.
She added that it intends to establish investment vehicles that are designed to attract long term funds that will assist it in its drive towards providing financing for small businesses and also empower small businesses to operate profitably among others.
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